


Krystallbyen

by Ibenholt



Category: Cyborg 009
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-11-27 18:58:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20953331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ibenholt/pseuds/Ibenholt
Summary: GB and Chang had very different ideas of what 'this' was.





	1. Chapter 1

The rain had stopped by the time GB, Joe and Albert returned to the ship, and from then on and throughout dinner, GB had been talking fondly about the Madam. Chang was quiet, and Geronimo, Pyunma and Fran sent him concerned looks in between emptying their dishes and trying to change the subject. Albert was staring at his food, feeling both surprised and disappointed. The incident with 0012 had been bad enough without GB gushing over her.

And Albert thought it had been difficult to bring it up with 009 along. They were all still getting to know him, and no one had brought him up to speed on 006 and 007’s… status, meaning that Albert couldn’t just grab him by the scruff of the neck and tell him to keep it in his pants. The others had entertained him for too long to think he was joking or trying to tease Chang.

“Such a beautiful woman… shame about the whole thing, really.”

“007…” Fran tried,

“Oh, forgive me! Let me give you a visual!”

He pressed his bellybutton and turned into her, right down to the sad eyes.

“Look! No wonder I’m so smitten, eh?”

He struck a pose and wiggled the woman’s shoulders,

“I tried to offer myself as a possible partner, of course, but she was married. Sort of.”

“Seconds, anyone?”

Chang said, voice cold enough to chill the soup.

Low mutters of ‘no thank you’ came from the assembled, and Chang began clearing the table. GB shrugged, turned back into himself and left the kitchen.

The others withdrew to the cockpit, where Albert sat down in the pilot’s seat, and barely noticed when Pyunma got into the other chair and turned to him, “What is going on?” he whispered, “I thought they were together?”

“So did I.”

“Back at the compound, I thought… well, I mean…”

This was the first time he had seen the other man flustered. It made him look as young as he really was, and Albert almost found himself smiling.

“They were always together, and they kept flirting…”

He shrugged,

“I thought GB was under a spell of some kind. But she’s gone now, so that’s not the case.”

Fran joined them, eyes wide,

“Would you care to explain what that little number in there was?”

“As I just said, I have no idea.”

“But you were there, surely you saw something…”

Albert shrugged,

“He just kept looking at her like she was a dessert, and then all hell broke loose.”

“Well, nevermind him for right now! Someone needs to talk to Chang!” Fran said.

“Yes, but we can’t make it seem to forced! It’ll be like we’re snooping.” Pyunma noted.

“That’s true. No, we have to be casual about it, maybe…”

Albert ignored them, went into the kitchen where he started drying the pots Chang had put away. Pyunma and Fran traded a look before blushing.

“Oh, thank you, Albert.” Chang said. He was busy scrubbing down the large pot he’d cooked the dinner in. It was almost as big as he was. 

“Thank you for a good dinner.” 

“The conditions aren’t as optimal as I’d like, but Pyunma was able to catch us some fish, and from there you just need some sauce and rice and you’re set.”

“I’m just glad one of us can cook.” 

“Don’t you worry. I’ll teach all of you in due time.”

Chang grinned at him. They worked in silence for a few minutes before Albert cleared his throat,

“I don’t think he meant anything by it, you know. He just doesn’t think sometimes.”

"He wasn't thinking of me at all, that’s for sure."

He suddenly seemed aware of who he was talking to and hurried back to scrubbing.

“But that’s not important right now, is it? We have to find Professor Kozumi.”

Albert was about to say something when GB’s voice echoed through the ship,

“Professor, there you are! I need to show you this woman we met!”

Albert jumped a little when Chang slammed a pot down on the counter,

“Alright, that’s it!!”

0012 stumbled backwards as Chang took a hold of the purple dress and dragged him into the kitchen and away from a ghostly-white Professor Gilmore. Albert quickly made his exit, not even bothering to look over his shoulder. He joined the others who were sitting in the lounge area.

“What’s your problem, stir fry!”

“What’s MY problem? What’s YOUR problem! Why are you off chasing strange women around and offering all sorts of things!”

“What?”

The others could see Fran tense up as Chang’s voice lowered, saying something that had GB utter a confused ‘huh?’.

“Wait, we’re what?!”

“ARE WE… I…! WE SHARED A BED FOR FIVE YEARS, YOU ASSHOLE! JUST HOW COLD ARE YOU!”

Pyunma made a pained noise and frowned. Joe’s mouth hung open, while Jet’s eyes were resembling saucers.

“So we’re talkin’ about this now…?”

The others hushed him as GB started stuttering,

“But I thought…!”

“What?! What did you think!”

“I thought we were… y’know…”

Geronimo was sucking in his cheeks, and Fran was mouthing ‘no, no, no’.

“Killing time?” 

Two seconds later, something crashed to the ground, GB gave a muffled cry, and Chang marched out of the kitchen, vanished into the hall and through a door that sealed up.


	2. Chapter 2

As the others peeked into the kitchen, GB pulling a dish rag out of his mouth,

“Boy, talk about a mouthful…”

He noticed the stares from his teammates, and crossed his arms over his chest,

“Hey, don’t blame me! He’s the one who went off the rails!”

“Don’t you care about his feelings?” Fran snapped.

GB realized he was outnumbered and looked pitifully at the floor,

“It’s not like we’re married or anything…”

“But you were together during our time with Black Ghost, weren’t you?” Albert asked.

“In a way, but… Actually, that’s none of your business!” GB said, “And why are you mad at me! You three dropped each other the moment we got out of there!”

He pointed to Fran, Albert and Jet.

“I know you had something going on!”

Joe found himself looking at Fran, who reddened.

“Now you two argue all the time, and you…!” he pointed to Fran, “Well, I guess we can see how much those years meant to you!”

“How can you say that!” she fumed.

Jet had to be held back by Geronimo,

“FUCKING TRY AGAIN, ENGLISH!”

Albert grabbed GB’s shirt and pulled him close,

“Don’t you ever dare assume anything about us. You have no idea what we had to go through before the rest of you came,” he dropped him, “And I don’t care if what happened between you and Chang was a misunderstanding, but you’re obligated to sort it out, and quickly. We need to find the professor, and we don’t have time for this.”

He turned around and went back to the pilot’s seat. GB snorted, but didn’t protest further. It seemed he had offended half the team already, and he wasn’t eager to keep it up.


	3. Chapter 3

Albert had been rearranging the med-kits about four times when Joe joined him in the infirmary. It took Albert a moment, but finally he spoke,

“Joe, I want you to know we didn’t say anything because it wasn’t ours to tell. It wasn’t to keep you out of the loop-”

“Oh, I didn’t… I mean… I…well. I don’t know.”

There’s a lot you don’t know, Albert thought, but he didn’t say it.

“GB and Chang’s relationship has been their own business. Things are always gonna be messy in close quarters and with the dynamic we have.”

“I know. I’ve lived in an orphanage all my life.”

“Really.”

“Yea. I suppose I get it. There were these two kids, Makoto and Yumi, who kept breaking up and getting back together again every other week. Maybe 007 and 006 are like that.”

He found himself smiling at the kid.

“Maybe.”


	4. Chapter 4

“I dunno…”

Jet said after a while. Pyunma had timed him. This was probably the longest he had gone without talking while awake.

“I mean, I knew it was happenin’. You’d have to be dumber than a box of hair not to. We just don’t… I mean, didn’t talk about it, y’know?”

“Why not?”

Jet shrugged,

“It’s not normal.”

“Not normal?”

“Yea, I mean… you’ll get beat up and stuff. I know things have changed since my time, and I shouldn’t be pointing fingers, considering…”

“It’s normal back home.” Pyunma said.

“Yeah?”

“Of course. Souls travel together, whether they are friends, family or lovers. The body doesn’t matter.” He shrugged, “I guess that’s why we are all together.”

Jet’s brow furrowed,

“That’s fucking terrible! You’re tellin’ me that all of this shit happened to us just cuz we were friends in a past life! Because some cosmic force wanted it?”

“There’s more to it than that.” Pyunma said, “The circumstances are one thing. If we were meant to meet, it would have happened one way or that other.”

He looked far away for a moment,

“Maybe I would have been able to study in your country, and meet you and Geronimo there, had things been different.”

Jet frowned. Had it been like that, he, Albert and Fran would be ancient. He found himself imagining the three of them with dentures and wigs, hanging out with their young friends.

“You wanna study?”

“Of course I do. I always wanted to. I still hope I get the opportunity one day.”

“First time I heard about someone who actually wants to go to school.”

Pyunma gave a wry smile and went back to staring out the window.


	5. Chapter 5

Francoise was fuming and Geronimo was making a mental note to never piss her off.

“How dare he say such things! And in front of all of you!”

She kept her hands steady so she more easily could pour coffee. Geronimo accepted the cup, which looked like a thimble in his hand.

“He felt cornered.”

He answered, then looked at her with his head cocked to the side,

*Or were you worried about Joe?*

She brought her finger up to her lips,

*Don’t…!*

*He can’t hear you when we talk like this.*

*I know, but..!*

*I don’t think he cares.*

*But what if he thinks there is something between us now?*

*I don’t think Joe thinks much of anything about your personal relationships, Fran.*

*Perhaps not… I’m being silly.*

*You’re being 19.*

*I’m 90, I’ll have you know.*

*Don’t count if you’ve been frozen.*

She smiled fondly to him and sat down, hands in her lap and feeling a tad calmer.


	6. Chapter 6

GB had been tossing and turning all night, and when it reached 4 in the morning, he finally snuck out of his room and went to Chang’s door,

“006?” he whispered at the door, “Can I talk to you?”

He leaned against it for a moment and was about to quote something when it opened, and he fell in. Chang loomed over him and grabbed his nose,

“Would you all stop man-handling me!”

“Listen here, you creep!” Chang snarled, “It’s embarrassing enough that the whole team heard us, I’m so ashamed of myself that I want to keep the door locked forever!”

GB blinked a few times,

“I…”

“But I’m not going to do that. And neither are you.”

“Chang, listen…”

“No, you listen to me! We’re the ones who keep the spirits up around here! I don’t care what you were doing before this, alcoholism and all, the others need us to be stable! And Albert is right, we have bigger fish to fry now that the professor is gone. So for the sake of the others, we’re going to pretend this never happened. Not the argument, nor the things that happened back at Black Ghost.”

“I…”

“For the sake of the group,” he continued, pinching GB’s nose hard, “I’m going to work alongside you, and we are going to defeat those bastards. And once that’s done, I’m heading home to China, and I hope I never see your miserable face again.”

He let him go, and GB fell to the floor once again. He bounced back up,

“Are you gonna let me talk or not?”

“What else could you possibly have to say to me?”

“I shouldn’t have said what I did. It was unfair and I didn’t think it through. Look, you… you actually made it livable in there. I would have been climbing the walls, literally.”

“Oh, so you just jumped on the first person you could find to stave off boredom?”

“Hey!”

“Hey, yourself! I’m sorry you think that such things mean nothing, but where I come from, sleeping with someone means a lot!”

“It DID mean a lot to me!! Chang, I thought we were going to die in there. Or get split up and sold! God knows! I wouldn’t have managed to stay sane if I hadn’t met you!”

“I not completely sure that you ever were sane.”

GB got up and grabbed Chang’s shoulder,

“Just shut up for a second! Please!”

Chang did so, and GB realized he didn’t have much to say.

“I-I was scared and alone. And you were there to comfort me. I didn’t expect us to ever escape. And now that we have…I don’t know where we stand anymore. I thought maybe you were thinking the same way! That once we were out, it was just…I mean, we didn’t… we haven’t really done much since we got out of there. I just assumed…”

Chang looked incredulous at him, then pinched the bridge of his nose,

“So just because we haven’t been doing it all over the house since we got out, we’re done?”

GB started at his choice of words. This from the guy who had punched his arm or tried to cover his mouth if he so much as hinted at them being involved,

“We’ve been attacked from every angle since we broke out! I’m sorry I haven’t been in the mood!”

Where the hell were his famous improv skills when he needed them? He kept stuttering and saying the wrong things!

“I’m too tired for this. Go back to bed and let’s discuss this later.”

He put his other hand on Chang’s shoulder, only to have him push it off and point to the door,

“Get out.”


	7. Chapter 7

Later didn’t come. 

The morning was only different in that the others were looking at them like they were expecting either one of them to blow up. But Chang served them breakfast and cleaned up as usual while they planned their next move.

While they searched for Kozumi, Chang would snap at him for making bad jokes and reciting plays, but nothing else. The others slowly stopped walking on eggshells around them. Even 004 seemed to mellow slightly.

There had the island where poor Geronimo got caught in the middle of their squabbling, and where survival seemed a bit more important than a discussion about where exactly they were in terms of their relationship.

Chang had really liked that weird robot.

He must have noticed his mood when they got to London, because things suddenly seemed to be back to normal. He’d make jokes and puns, and drag GB around like he used to, even going so far as to pick him to help him shop. He wasn’t sure if that was a sign of trust or a kind of punishment.

His problems were replaced when he suddenly found himself wrapped up in the mysteries of the theatre. And of Sophie’s daughter.

He knew the other cyborgs were following him, but they left him alone on the way home. Just as well. He wasn’t in the mood to talk.

Once he got back to the hotel, he took a long shower, doing his best not to think.

When he finally got out, he almost jumped out of his skin when he found Chang sitting in one of the chairs by the vanity.

“Finally! What, does the shower have those settings you like so much?”

GB didn’t answer, but that didn’t seem to bother Chang.

“Get dressed. I ordered us some tea.”

He got dressed quickly, trying to see if Chang was looking. He wasn’t, attending to the tray instead. GB accepted a cup once he sat down,

“Thanks. I always get a little blue after performances.”

“I’ve noticed.”

Chang stirred sugar into his own tea. They were quiet for a bit.

“I think I understand you a little better now.”

Chang said, finally.

“You were hoping to return to this Sophie one day, weren’t you?”

GB shrugged,

“Maybe. Kept trying to drink myself to courage… and it only resulted in more drinking.”

“It has a way of doing that.”

Another long pause.

“Why didn’t you just tell me? We had 5 years. Well, maybe 2, considering how much time we spent unconscious or drugged or in mortal danger.”

GB had spent so many showers and quiet moments rehearsing a string of sentences that made some sense, but even now, he stumbled his way through the explanation:

“I suppose I thought you might have it the same way. A litter of kids and a wife waiting for you to come home. Or a girlfriend. A boyfriend, even.”

“Don’t you think I would have told you? Or stopped you?”

“I figured you were as desperate as I was. I’m not exactly a prize.”

“Talking yourself down won’t get you out of this. I’m still very mad at you.”

“I know. I just don’t want you to think that I was using you.”

“No. I think ‘fuckbuddies’ was the right term?”

GB spat out his tea and coughed.

“You’ve been talking to Jet, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have used that word, but…” he shrugged, “Yes?”

“I see.”

That icy tone was back and GB didn’t care for it one bit, even if he maybe sort of deserved it.

“But what about you?”

“What? Well…there isn’t much to talk about.”

GB’s eyes narrowed before becoming large as dinner plates,

“Wait, was I your first?”

Chang shrugged,

“Sort of?”

GB went from pale to red to pale to red again.

“No wonder you are so mad at me!”

“Oh, take it easy! And I would have had every right to be mad even if you were my 35th!” Chang said, “I spent a few years in a cooking school in Beijing. And you know how the big city is. The problem was that most of the clubs shut down shortly after my first year there. More police in the streets, you know…”

He made a gesture GB had no idea what meant and continued sipping tea,

“It was enough, for a time, just to be around others. But I never had a boyfriend, and I knew that if someone chose me, I’d have to say goodbye at some point and go back home.”

He stared into his tea like he was looking for easy answers,

“It can be a very lonely life, being like this.”

GB pressed his lips together as he remembered all the friends he’d lost to drug abuse, to alcohol, to suicide… all because of this dreadful loneliness and what could come with it. 

“And now, even though I’m further isolated, I have all of you… I feel sick saying it, but sometimes, I almost feel grateful that Black Ghost snatched me up.”

They sat in silence for a while, and GB enjoyed how the wall between them was coming down. He had missed this, he realized. It was best when he and Chang bickered with no malice behind their words, but this easy stillness relaxed him. Which was why the next words had to be forced out of him:

“So what now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where are we?”

“Well…”

“Could you stay here tonight?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Chang slid off his seat,

“But we made up, right?”

“Of course we did. But I’d like some more time.”

He didn’t argue. Just before Chang put his hand on the door knob, GB got up, 

“Chang.”

He kneeled, took Chang’s hand and kissed it,

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, GB.”

The tension was completely gone when Chang left, but GB couldn’t help but notice how monstrously big the room seemed without him.


End file.
